Shoulder issues

[Seldzar]

Hi guys,

New poster, looking for some advice. Any insight you guys can provide would be fantastic.

Now, the issue. I'll give you some history to understand it more. I hurt my shoulder about 1.5 years ago and the pain when I hurt it was a aching/throbbing down my shoulder to my elbow. I proceeded to continue my kung fu training regardless of any pain for about 5 months.

Eventually I had to stop and go do some physio (couldn't put my hand behind my back much at all). They managed to massage and relax most of the rotator cuff muscles and (outside of physio on my own) I was using a ball to massage my shoulder(with stretching and strengthening) It is mostly back to normal.

Now, here is the big issue. The core "pinch" I went in for has not gone away. The entire shoulder feels normal except when I pull it across my body where my hand is about waist level (left shoulder pulled across the right) and I grab my left elbow and apply pulling pressure and use my right elbow to apply slight pressure down on the hand. In this case the pain is a pulling that feels right IN the shoulder joint. If I grab something with my left arm and then allow my shoulder to sink out and feel the stretch on the rotator cuff muscles I feel tight pulling pain that does sort of relax when holding the stretch but hurts just as much when I let go.

I've done this type of stretch for other tendons and muscles in my shoulder over the last few months and have had success but it still does not change the core deep pinch in my shoulder that I feel.

From my past treatment, that kind of stretch should provide relief and relaxation and not hurt the same when doing it again another day. However it always hurts and has never felt good. If I push my fingers right into the shoulder joint I can feel the humerus move inwards as I press and it feels like it pinches when it moves. At best, I have to dig around a bit and I can find the pinch, applying deeptissue type pressue to release the tension in the muscle does seem like it works, as it does relax but then hurts like hell letting up and allowing the shoulder to go back.

Reaching behind my back (scratching my back) I can go fairly high up but any type of actually pushing (trying to reach a little higher etc) causes the pinch as well.

I have had my girlfriend try the same type of treatment as my normal physio, lay on my side, allow my shoulder to relax over my head and let her dig around. I get the same sharp pinching pain when she finds it and applies pressure but upon releasing and putting my arm back down it hurts just as much moving the arm back.

I have no problems moving my arm, doing things, lifting, punching, grabbing etc however it is completely random how it wil pinch and inflame again. For example, no problems moving my girlfriend last weekend (I moved lots of heavy stuff by myself) but when wiping a baseboard with paper towel caused my shoulder to seem like it caught a big chunk of mucle inbetween the shoulder and the humerus and pinched it hard.

I have visited my physio guy here but everything they do is just surface feeling and those muscles all feel fine. I can only describe it as a deep pinch underneith all the muscles and can be found when digging deep inbetween my shoulder joint. No amount of massaging, rubbing, stretching seems to make it feel any better.

Could this be bone spurs? torn tendon? Am I just screwed and thats the way my shoulder will be from now on? Should I go try and get it xray'd? I need some advice because it's driving me mad.

In the year or so I've had attention devoted to massaging and relaxing and stretching ALL other issues have been sorted except in the shoulder pinch.

Any advice you guys can provide would be fantastic.

Thanks,

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[spud1976]

it sounds like an impingment problem, do you get a painful arc ? (no pain pain then no pain) when putting your arm out to the side. possibly an instability but that depends on type of injury.
x-ray would rule out a boney spur, a scan would be better.
a physio should be able to do some impingement tests to try and confirm this.

[alophysio]

Hi. Sometimes the cartilage around the shoulder can be injured and won't show up on X-Ray.

Maybe get your physio to post???

[neurospast]

-1,5 years ago you hurt your shoulder, how? e.g. By falling onto your shoulder?
-which movements do hurt because I do not exactly understand. e.g. putting hand on opposite shoulder, reach high.
-can you lie on your shoulder?
-constant pain? where, does it radiate as before to elbow?
-Any neck problems since or prior to accident? (consider even an occassional stiffness of the neck/shoulders as a neck problem. Headaches?)
The problem with the shoulder pain is that a lot of different areas can contribute it. Impingement as mentioned, Acromio Clavicular joint (problem reaching accross the body, behind and up), bursitis(painful arc, like moving arm sideways it becomes painful and then it disapears again aftera certain angle of arm to body), tendinitis(painful arc), nerve impinchement from neck to shoulder. It appears to me that although you have had physio, the cause has not been dealt with. Sometimes a slight change in shoulder/scapula movement can cause the problem but to my experience in that case a nerve is involved.
A bony spur is not that likely timewise, partly ruptured tendon more likely. But describe as good as possible what sort of pain when and where.
Cheers

[ramleo]

Hi

X-RAY would rule out if any bony spur, cause', it sound like impingment, so MRI scan should be a better option.

Thanks.